After the walled garden coming to the desktop operating system world, we're currently witnessing another potential nail in the coffin of the relatively open world of desktop and laptop computing. Microsoft has revealed [.pptx] that as part of its Windows 8 logo program, OEMs must implement UEFI secure boot. This could potentially complicate the installation of other operating systems, like Windows 7, XP, and Linux.

It's very disappointing (but not surprising), the way that Windows 8 is shaping up.

The secure boot thing. The "only apps from the Windows Store" thing.
( Thom mentions that he's "fairly sure the relevant registry key" (to bypass installing apps via the store) "will be easily toggled for us geeks."
Hopefully so, but I wonder how long that access would last. Not long at all, I'm thinking. It'd be very easily removed by MS, should the mood take them.

When I first saw the look and feel of Windows 8, I was *really* interested (and this from a Linuxhead).
It looked really nice, really clean. Sadly, MS seem to be reverting to their old ways, with the "secure boot" and Windows store stuff. That has **completely** killed my interest in Windows 8.